Hearts and a Heir
by Noqui
Summary: Harry is starting his 7th year at Hogwarts, when odd things start happening. Ginny is seeing nightmares about her 1st year, and everything points to the question: is Tom Riddle really "dead"? PG-13 just for caution


Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter nor any of his friends, foes, schoolbooks, wands and stuff like that. They belong to J.K. Rowling. However, I do own the plot. Don't steal it, or face the eternal wrath of my three silly snakes! *laughs an evil, maniac laugh*  
  
Oh, by the way, these are thoughts.  
*~Hearts and a Heir~*  
  
Chapter One  
The summer holiday was almost over, still a few weeks left of it, and Harry Potter couldn't stop thinking that he had had the best summer ever. He had spent two days at his foster-family, the Dursleys, at the beginning of the holiday, and then Ron Weasley, his best friend, had come to take him to The Burrow, the Weasleys' home. Harry had spent the entire summer there, playing Quidditch (a magical sport), eating great food, having his laundry washed every week, and doing his homework, having plenty of knowledgeful wizards and witches around to help him.  
  
Harry now walked quietly towards the little shack out in the back of the backyard, where the Weasleys kept their brooms. Ron and Hermione Granger were nowhere to be seen, probably in Ron's room kissing (for the two were dating), so Harry had no one to accompany him.  
  
He opened the door, that made a small creak, and stepped in. It was dark in the shack, but he could faintly make out some fire-red Weasley hair at the back of it.  
  
"Hello?" Harry whispered as he slowly walked nearer, careful to not scare whoever it was in there.  
  
"Oh, Harry, hi", said a familiar voice. "Lumos!"  
  
The end of a wand was lit with the spell, revealing Charlie's, Ron's second oldest brother's face. Harry had only met Charlie a couple of times, but always he had had a smile on his face and a cheerful attitude. That's why Harry was so shocked to see Charlie's face now. There was no smile on it, but there were dark circles around his eyes, and a worried look.  
  
"Charlie, are you all right?" Harry asked, concerned.  
  
Charlie seemed to sort of wake up from a trance. "I'm OK, don't you worry for me! It's poor Gin I'm worried about."  
  
Harry sat down next to Charlie, looking at him with an odd expression on his face. "Ginny? What's wrong with Ginny?"  
  
"She's been having these nightmares, but refuses to tell anyone - even me - about them." The freckle-faced young man sighed, and ran a scarred and burned hand through his vivid hair. "I mean, I'm her favourite brother, you know. At least", he smiled, but Harry noticed the smile didn't reach his eyes, "that's what she's told me."  
  
"How long has it been going on?" Harry asked.  
  
"I noticed it at the beginning of the holiday, but god knows how long it's been going on at Hogwarts!"  
  
Harry thought for a while. "But Ron hasn't mentioned anything to me--"  
  
"If you haven't figured out by now", Charlie cut him off, "it's the way Ron works with problems. He thinks if he doesn't do anything to it, it'll go away. Pretty much what he did with that whole Hermione thing."  
  
Charlie was right. It had taken over five years from Ron to finally notice he really did like Hermione more than as a friend.  
  
"What kind of nightmares?" asked Harry.  
  
Charlie sighed again. "See, that's one of the biggest issues here. She won't tell, and I've got no idea what she fears so much she sees nightmares about it for months!"  
  
Harry was silent. He had lots of ideas, mainly ones that somehow involved stuff from Ginny's first year at Hogwarts. The Petrified students, the Chamber of Secrets, the basilisk, and of course Tom Marvolo Riddle (evil wizard Voldemort's younger self) himself.  
  
"I'm just... you know, worried", Charlie continued as he figured Harry wasn't going to speak. "Gin's always been a kind girl, helpin' everyone, never asking a thing for herself... What has she done to deserve nightmares on top of everything else she's been going through?!"  
  
Harry shrugged. Apparently no one - apart from him, Ginny, Tom Riddle/Voldemort and Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts - knew what exactly had happened during Ginny's first year. If Charlie had known about everything, he would've never wondered Ginny's nightmares. But after five years? She didn't get nightmares back then, but now she has them?  
  
Harry's thoughts were cut when he heard Mrs Weasley shout his name. "Harry! There's a letter for you!"  
  
"Will you be alright?" he asked Charlie, who only nodded. Harry felt bad leaving Charlie on his own, but he wanted to go and see the letter, and maybe then he could talk with Ginny.  
  
When Harry arrived into the kitchen full of weird machines, wizarding books and the clock that had no numbers on it, just the faces of the Weasleys (and the recently added Harry and Hermione) on the hands and words like 'Lost', 'Home' and such there where the numbers normally were, there was no one there. He walked to the table, sat down, and picked up the letter that lay on the table. He immediately recognized the handwriting as one of Sirius', and tore the envelope open.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Hope you're fine, and that your scar's been OK. Remember to tell Mr or Mrs Weasley or any of the older Weasley brothers, if it starts hurting again! And I wouldn't mind a letter every now and then from my only godson even if nothing important was going on! I trust everyone else is fine, too. How is Ron and Hermione's relationship? I hope they don't argue as much as they used to! Give my best to all, and if we don't see before the end of your holiday, 'til Hogwarts!  
  
Sirius  
  
P.S: There's a letter from Remus (he shares my new flat - the rent's pretty high for a single). He says it's very important. Make sure you read as soon as possible!  
  
A bit confused, Harry flipped Sirius' letter over, noticing just then that there were two papers attached to each other. He began reading the letter his DADA-professor had sent him.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I'm quite sure Sirius did not mention this in his letter, but I hope you haven't noticed anything strange with Ginny Weasley. We've just been discussing with Albus Dumbledore about Voldemort, and we found out some pretty disturbing news.  
  
Harry's heart began pounding faster.  
  
Let me tell you what happened with Ms Weasley when I first taught you at Hogwarts. Do you remember the boggart, and the practice of the Riddikulus charm we had with it? I did that with each and every single class. When the second-year Gryffindors had their turn, I had yet to hear the details of the previous year's happenings, but I had heard enough to put Ms Weasley on as the last one. I assumed the boggart would, during her turn, take the role of the basilisk, or perhaps the diary, or even Tom Riddle. And as her turn came up, she stood in front of everyone, bold and confident like a true Gryffindor. But when the boggart assumed the role she was afraid of... It turned itself into Tom Riddle. The boggart/Tom began walking towards Ms Weasley, who panicked. She dropped her wand, fell to the floor and covered her face with her hands and cried. And all the time the boggart/Tom kept hissing quiet words at her, words that were spoken, I assume, in Parseltongue. All the others were staring at Ms Weasley. I had to stop it. I stood in front of it, it turned into the moon, and the rest you know. After we had got rid of the boggart, I dismissed the class, and spoke with Ms Weasley. I found out she was afraid of Tom, like an ex-addict, who fears s/he'll fall again. I offered her hot chocolate and some candy, and we spoke a little more. After I was sure she was fine, I let her go. I told her to come back if there ever was a need to, but she never came to me, so I assumed it had just been a random panic attack. If you notice anything, anything at all, please owl me immediately. I'm sorry to approach you with such bad news, but I hope we'll have a better year at Hogwarts. Till then, have nice holiday!  
  
Remus J. Lupin  
  
Harry put the letter down, determined to have a talk with Ginny as soon as possible. His luck was better than ever, he thought, as he climbed up the stairs. Out of the window, he saw Bill, the oldest brother, Charlie (still a bit down, but definitely happier than earlier that morning, Harry noticed), and Fred and George, the identical twin pranksters, walk up a hill with brooms in their hands. Percy, the third oldest, was probably in his room, working. He had been in his room almost all summer, because, to put it in his words, 'The Ministery of Magic needs all its workers working hard, with the threat of You-Know-Who growing. We need stronger cauldrons!', and then he went back into his room to work on a spell that would thicken cauldrons. Ron and Hermione were still in Ron's room snogging, if Harry were to guess. So he knocked on the only door (apart form the bathroom door) on the third landing.  
  
There was a quiet moment. Then a sleepy voice said, "Come in!"  
  
Harry stepped into Ginny's room, looking around himself. He realized he had never been in her room before. The walls were plain white, except for the few posters hanging on them. There was a large Gryffindor badge on the wall next to her bed, and next to that poster, was a poster of Harry flying with his Quidditch robes on. Every now and then Draco Malfoy zoomed though the poster, and Harry knew that the poster must've been developed from a magicked photo, because he remembered that Quidditch match against Slytherin from last year, and Ginny had borrowed Colin Creevey's camera, taking a picture just as Harry had flown near her, looking for the Golden Snitch, Malfoy following him closely. There were some photos hung on the walls too, magicked, the persons in them moving. There was one with Charlie and Norbert, Hagrid the school groundkeeper's old dragon in Romania, and one with Bill grinning madly with an angry-looking goblin in Egypt. Fred and George were in many pictures, grinning or playing a prank on someone. Percy looking very official, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Ron and Hermione, and Harry. (Harry grimaced as he saw his own photos.) And there were some he didn't quite expect. Hagrid, Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and a photo of a smiling Draco. Harry felt sick all of a sudden.  
  
Just as harry was about to look at the one that stood on the bed-side table, Ginny slammed it face down, looking innocently at Harry.  
  
Must be some goofy photo about me, Harry thought, but decided to let it be.  
  
"Nice pictures", he commented instead. Ginny blushed at this.  
  
"I took all of them", she said quietly, slipping her slippers on.  
  
Harry stood in the middle of her room, still eyeing his surroundings. There was a diary with bright and colourful covers, and some schoolbooks lying around.  
  
"Listen, Ginny... I heard that you've, um, been seeing nightmares, right?" Harry mentally slapped himself right after saying it. Idiotic way to mention one's nightmares!  
  
Ginny made a small nod. "But I think they're passing. I didn't see any last night."  
  
"That's, uh, good. I think I'll... uh... You hungry?" Harry was a bit suprised at himself. Why on earth am I stammering in front of Ginny Weasley?!  
  
Ginny smiled, which made Harry blush. "A bit. Would you mind going downstairs while I dress?"  
  
"Not at all!" Harry answered, his voice unnaturally high. He walked out of the room, almost tripping over his own feet, and close the door. He was about to step on the first stair downstairs, when he heard a scream from Ginny's room. A terrified, heart-stopping scream.  
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Author's notes: Sorry this chapter is so short. I'll try to make the next one longer. OK, thanks for reading! Please review! I'll be posting a new chapter as soon as it's ready, but only if you liked this one! 


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